


imbi ist hucze!

by SwanFloatieKnight



Category: Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, Lorscher Bienensegen, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Pendragon Returns (Merlin), Attempt at Humor, Beekeeping, Cottage core, Crack, Fluff and Crack, German Civil Law, Heartache, Immortal Merlin (Merlin), Inspired by Poetry, Lorsch Bee Blessing, M/M, Spells & Enchantments, i mean kinda???, it's a 1200 year old spell, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwanFloatieKnight/pseuds/SwanFloatieKnight
Summary: Merlin likes bees, he really does.But he hates it that his little golden companions have a bad habit of escaping their hive just to mess with him.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	imbi ist hucze!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rialtoir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rialtoir/gifts).



> Well, the idea for this is about a year old. The _rough_ idea to write a fic about the Lorsch Bee Blessing at least. The concrete idea was born yesterday. Hope you like it XD
> 
> Apparently the obsession with escaped bees has a long tradition in Germany...

A/N: I posted this fic on Ao3, and on Ao3 alone. If you read this on any other website or platform, please consider that I did not consent to this.

* * *

“Merlin!”

Arthur was stomping through the forest, for once not concerned with grace and stealth. Even though Merlin would probably argue that he never had any no matter how hard he tried, but that was definitely not true. “Merlin where are you? You were supposed to wash my shirts, there are no clean ones in the closet!”

He had now almost reached the small cottage in the forest where he grew some herbs and flowers. Arthur knew Merlin, after growing up in Ealdor and still getting overwhelmed by the noises and the busy life of the city, liked to spend some of his days there when the life in Camelot became too busy for him. There was no sign of Merlin what was suspicious because there wasn’t a sign of him in the castle either.

“Merlin?!”

“Arthur?” Merlin was behind the cottage in the little garden where he kept his beehives. “I am so sorry I didn’t make it in time, but I’ve been kept quite busy with those little monsters…”

Arthur rounded the corner and saw an exasperated Merlin standing in front of his two beehives, and they seemed empty. Despite the warm temperatures and the bright sunlight no busy bustling bees were flying about, the nervous humming of the little insects had ceased.

Arthur walked over to Merlin and greeted him with a kiss. “The little monsters that aren’t there?”

“That’s my problem!” Merlin ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “If only I knew where they were and how I could get them back!”

Arthur patted his shoulder. “Maybe try some magic?”

Merlin pouted. “The only spell I can think of needs the bees within my range to affect them. Technically, one bee of each hive would be enough, but how do I find a bee in a forest?”

“Don’t worry, love.” Arthur kissed Merlin’s forehead gently. “I’m sure they will come back here. Look at your lovely flowers. What bee would be stupid enough to miss out on those?”

“You are probably right…” Merlin sighed. “So, I guess you’ll be heading back to Camelot then? I have no idea how long this will keep me. I don’t even know if I’ll make it back in time for dinner.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll go back.” Arthur gave him a warm smile.

“Don’t you have work to do?” Merlin frowned.

“I’m sure Leon can cover for me. He can just make up some story about me feeling unwell. I wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity to spend some quality time with my boyfriend.” Now he pulled Merlin into a hug.

Merlin snuggled into his arms and sighed happily. “You’re great, Arthur. Thank you.”

Together they sat down in the sun on the bench next to the door of the cottage. Arthur still had one arm wrapped around Merlin’s shoulders. Merlin leaned against him and closed his eyes. The sun was warm, the birds were singing, Arthur was there and the world was wide and quiet.

He almost dozed off, but then he felt a tickle on his face. Merlin wrinkled his nose in annoyance and reached up with his hand to scratch it, but Arthur grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t! It’s a bee.”

“A bee?” Merlin bolted upright. “Oh my god Arthur, you were right!” He squinted at the bee and held out his finger. “Come here, little one…”

As soon as the bee had crawled onto his index finger he stood up and carried it over to the beehive. There he started murmuring an incantation:

> _“Kirst, imbi ist hucze! nu fliuc du, uihu minaz, hera_
> 
> _fridu frono in godes munt heim zi comonne gisunt._
> 
> _sizi, sizi, bina: inbot dir sancta maria._
> 
> _hurolob ni habe du: zi holce ni fluc du,_
> 
> _noh du mir nindrinnes, noh du mir nintuuinnnest._
> 
> _sizi uilu stillo, vuirki godes uuillon.” **[1]**_

And really, the bee crawled into the hive, and soon after Arthur could see the swarm return, bee after bee came home from the forest, just like Merlin had commanded them. Among them also was a bee from the other hive that Merlin carefully picked up to chant his spell, and within an hour most of his bees had returned.

“Right.” He turned to Arthur with a happy sigh. “That’s it. We can go back if you want to. My bees are safe.”

But Arthur only grinned. “You know, now that I get this once in a lifetime opportunity to spend an entire day just with you… I would be pretty stupid if I wasted it, right?”

Merlin shrugged, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Well, yes, maybe. But it wouldn’t surprise me, dollophead.”

In playful annoyance Arthur shook his head, but he still cradled Merlin into his arms when he now threw himself at Arthur. Lovingly, he pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

*~*~*

It took Merlin years to get over Arthur’s death. Not that he thought he would ever get completely over it, there would always be a sore, aching spot inside his heart where Arthur belonged. But he felt ready now to keep living until his boyfriend would return. Arthur had told him that he wanted him to always be him, and damn him if he wouldn’t at least try.

So he lived. And lived. And lived. For decades. For centuries. A millennium passed. And another one. Arthur didn’t return.

Merlin felt lonely. The time kept washing over him, flowing past him, but barely touching him. He was left to stand by and watch everything around him change and evolve, only he stayed always the same. At least that was how it felt to him.

One thing he kept through the centuries was his little cottage. Another one were the bees. ‘I don’t want you to change. I want you to always be you.’ Even though he lived in the city, in a big house, his magic saving him from suspicions he couldn’t give up the forest completely. He loved the nature and the tranquillity too much, and it was something that reminded him of his old life. A life he had shared with Arthur. Some remnants of the king’s presence still lingered in the remote cottage, in the way the sun fell through the windows and painted golden patterns on the worn wooden floor like it had played with Arthur’s hair, a long time ago. The constant hum from the beehives outside in the summer that had a wondrously healing effect on Merlin’s battered soul.

Merlin himself wasn’t even sure if it was just his own memory or something deeper. Maybe the place itself had its own memory. Maybe the little bench next to the door remembered Arthur just as well as he did. The day that they had just sat in the sun together, enjoyed a few shared hours without any duties to fulfil. Just sharing the sunlight and the scent of fir needles, waiting for the bees to return.

_sizi, sizi, bina_

A tingling sensation in his magic caused a sharp pain to cut through Merlin’s heart and soul. How long would he have to wait till Arthur would return?

_hurolob ni habe du_

Neither the bees nor Arthur had gotten his permission to just… leave. Not that they had needed it. The bees didn’t care for him, the lucky little insects probably didn’t even know that he called himself their owner in his hubris. Even though they only belonged to themselves. They lived a happier life than him…

Arthur, on the other hand… Arthur couldn’t have asked for Merlin’s permission. He didn’t even choose to leave Merlin. He just – died. Died and left Merlin behind, left him to wait, but for how long?

So Merlin kept the cottage, and he kept his bees, and both reminded him of Arthur in one way or the other. And even though the plants from which his bees collected nectar had changed a little over the time his honey always tasted the same. It was a unique taste, the last thing that reminded him of his medieval Camelot and the lifetime he had shared with Arthur, and Merlin strongly suspected that his magic had something to do with it. However, the honey was the second reason why he kept his bees and why they had become so precious to him.

It was a warm day in early June when his bees had flown off once again. Merlin saw his empty hives and just sighed tiredly. He couldn’t recall how often he had gone hunting his bees over the centuries, but with the recent changes in the law (that had been made 80 years ago, but that seemed like such a short time to him) he could no longer just sit on the bench and wait for the bees to return. If he didn’t want to lose his property he had to chase them down.

> **§961 Eigentumsverlust bei Bienenschwärmen.** Zieht ein Bienenschwarm aus, so wird er herrenlos, wenn nicht der Eigentümer ihn unverzüglich verfolgt oder wenn der Eigentümer die Verfolgung aufgibt.[2]

And that was what he did. Merlin ran off, through the forest, in the direction where his magic guided him. His magic that apparently had a connection to his bees. After a while the forest ended, he was running through fields now, and came to a small village. A small village with a large villa. And to follow his bees – by now he was certain that he had nearly reached them, his magic felt them humming in the distance already – he had to enter the noble estate in front of him.

> **§962 Verfolgungsrecht des Eigentümers.** 1 Der Eigentümer des Bienenschwarms darf bei der Verfolgung fremde Grundstücke betreten.[3]

Without a moment’s hesiation, Merlin climbed over the fence and ran across the neatly mown lawn. He didn’t care if he would get in trouble for this as long as he got his bees back. He reached out for them with his magic, felt the nervous humming of the swarm somewhere close, somewhere up –

They were in a tree. A large hollow tree across the lawn. And he would have to climb up there. These little bastards. With an annoyed sigh Merlin trudged across the lawn. He carefully inspected the tree, looked up at his bees that were somewhere up there but didn’t bother to come down. If only one of them would make the effort to fly down here and sit on his nose again…

“Hello! Excuse me! What are you doing here? This is private property!” he suddenly heard an angry voice from behind him.

Merlin groaned. “Listen, I’m sorry, but I’m looking for my bees. They have escaped and I’m following them now, and by law I’m even allowed to enter your private property while doing so. You could not perhaps be so kind to bring me a ladder so I can get up there and take them home?”

He slowly turned around to see if the man that had addressed him and on whose lawn he was standing right now looked as posh and unfriendly as he had sounded. When he saw the blue eyes and the blonde hair though Merlin’s heart stopped for a second.

The stranger – no, he was no stranger anymore – stared back at him in equal surprise.

“This… this cannot be,” he finally stammered. “Are you really… I mean, god, this sounds stupid, but… are you Merlin?”

“Arthur?” Merlin’s eyes grew wide. “You remember me?”

Slowly, Arthur nodded. “I… I think I do. I did not, until I laid my eyes upon you. But you… you are Merlin, I just know it. And you still have bees.” He smiled at him, but there was a bottomless sadness in his eyes. “How long has it been?”

Merlin shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve lost count of all the years that passed. They just went by but hardly touched me. I’m still here.” He stepped a little closer to Arthur. “And you… are back? Why did I not find you earlier?”

“I don’t know… but now that I have found you…” He hesitantly reached out to touch Merlin’s face. “I don’t want to ever lose you again. Can you… stay with me, please?”

Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur and buried his face in his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent with relief. “Of course I will, clotpole. As if I would ever let go of you again.” He laughed, but there were tears burning in his eyes, tears of happiness this time. “But first I have to take home my bees. Do you want to accompany me?”

With Arthur’s ladder it was a matter of minutes for Merlin to climb the tree, take one bee onto his hand and whisper the ancient spell at the little animal.

On their way to the cottage, through the forest, with the bees flying around them, Arthur gently took Merlin’s hand in his. “I’m glad your bees found me.”

Merlin laughed. “If only I had known that they only wanted to lead me to you I would have been less annoyed.”

When the cottage appeared between the trees Arthur stopped and gasped. “Is this… oh, it looks just like it did when I last saw it! How is this even possible?”

Merlin shrugged. “Magic, I suppose. And you wanting me to always stay myself.”

“What do you mean?”

Merlin had walked on and was now kneeling in front of the beehive to place the little bee on his finger there. His swarm would move back in now. He wiped his hands on his thighs and looked up at Arthur with a smile. “This was the one place where I could truly be myself. It still looks the same. It sounds the same. It smells the same. The bees are here, and all the memories of you. This place stayed the same for me so I could adapt to the modern world outside. With the knowledge that I could always come back here when I missed you too much.”

“Oh, Merlin…” Arthur pulled him into a hug and kissed him.

A single sob escaped Merlin’s lips, but it soon turned into joyful laughter. “You have no idea how glad I am that you’re back…”

He dragged Arthur to the little bench where they had already sat centuries ago. They exchanged kiss after kiss, Merlin running his fingers through his silken hair over and over again, trying to suck as much of Arthur into his soul as he could without making his heart burst with all the love that threatened to overwhelm him. And Arthur was there, was alive, and kept reassuring him that he would never leave his side again. In this lifetime they would stay together.

Merlin had successfully taken his bees home.

But looking at Arthur who was brightly smiling at him, his blue eyes glistening, his golden hair shimmering in the sunlight, the scent of fir needles and wild flowers all around them unchanged for centuries, Merlin felt his heart become whole again. He knew that it had not only been his bees who had been taken back home today.

**Author's Note:**

> Translation of the Lorsch Bee Blessing is my own:  
> [1] Christ, the bee is out! Now fly, my animal, here  
> to come home safely with God’s peace and under God’s protection.  
> sit, sit, bee: Holy Mary ordered you to.  
> You don’t have permission to leave: don’t fly into the forest,  
> Don’t escape me, don’t fly away from me.  
> Sit very still, do as God wants you to.
> 
> The translations of the German Civil Code are taken from [this](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#p3873) website:  
> [2] **§ 961 Loss of ownership of bee swarms.** Where a swarm of bees takes flight, it becomes ownerless if the owner fails to pursue it without undue delay or if he gives up the pursuit.  
> [3] **§ 962 Right of pursuit of the owner.** The owner of the swarm of bees may, in pursuit, enter on plots of land belonging to others.
> 
> If you liked this, please leave me a comment and Kudos! :D


End file.
